The Ethics of Abortion Utilitarianism, Buddhism Kant. Essay Example

The Ethics of Abortion: Utilitarianism, Buddhism Kant. Paper Examine how different ethical theories/religious viewpoints approach the issue of abortion. To what extent do you think they are successful in resolving the controversies? Abortion is a very controversial subject in todays society, and although it is now legal in most Western countries, there are as many viewpoints and arguments opposing abortion as there are in favour of it. Many questions must be asked when contemplating abortion; When does a human life begin? At what point is the foetus morally equal to us? nd Does the mother have the right to choose to end the life of her unborn child? re a few of the major issues which arise. Contrary to Utilitarianism, Buddhism has a very clear view on when life begins: conception. Like Kant, Buddhists believe that life is sacred and have a very positive view of human beings. However Buddhism extends this idea, believing that every living creature has Tathagatha-Garba (perfection in embryonic form), suggesting that every living being has the po tential to reach a perfect state and ultimately become a Buddha. Therefore even if you have an early abortion, it is still destroying the potential for something perfect, which is not acceptable. Buddhists have come to the conclusion that life begins at conception, as they teach that one incarnates in the mother at the moment of conception, meaning that destroying an embryo is equal to murder. Buddhism would say that the mother does not have the right to destroy the Tathagartha-Garba as it is a completely different entity, it is simply living inside her body for the time being, not an actual part of the mothers body over which she has control. We will write a custom essay sample on The Ethics of Abortion: Utilitarianism, Buddhism Kant. specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Ethics of Abortion: Utilitarianism, Buddhism Kant. specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Ethics of Abortion: Utilitarianism, Buddhism Kant. specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer A main principle in Buddhism is that of the Tri-Pitaka (three baskets), it is the first of these baskets Vinaya-Pitaka which concerns the issue of abortion as it eals with laws governing moral life for example Pratimoksha, which represents the way to freedom, and consists of Five Primary Precepts. One of these precepts is I undertake the training principle of refraining from harming living beings, rendering abortion immoral and linking to the Buddhist idea that mental attitude is very important. They believe that one must have a calm mind in death in order to enter the next life in a high realm; harming the tathagartha-garba before its born will undoubtedly cause it severe mental trauma and so causing it to be reincarnated in a ower realm, enforcing the belief that the mother does not have the right to abort a child, as this would inflict pain and the unfortunate consequences upon an innocent being. The Bardo-Thodol (Tibetan Book of the Dead) gives a very accurate and descriptive insight into what happens between two lives from death to reincarnation. It teaches how we can attain Nirvana by recognizing the heavenly realms instead of entering into the lower realms where the cycle of birth and rebirth continue. A main principle in the Buddhist religion is Karma they believe that etween lives you meet Lord Yama, who holds up a mirror in which you see all of your past deeds which are then measured on a balance to determine where you go in your next life. Each negative deed adds a black stone to the balance, and every positive deed, a white. Your karma acts as a magnet drawing you to future rebirth and you are reincarnated in a certain realm, according to how the balance is tipped, if there are more white than black stones you will enter a high realm and vice versa. By having an abortion you are disregarding the sacred value of life and so are likely o be reborn in a low, hell realm. Buddhist belief is that abortion is intrinsically wrong as it contradicts all of their key teachings. Kant, like the Buddhists, has an absolutist view on ethics and again, as in Buddhism, believes that abortion is always wrong. His view is very unique; he believes that Just as the universe is underpinned by laws of nature, human behaviour is controlled by a moral law. He teaches that in order to work out these moral laws you must use a kind of ethical mathematics, synthetic a prior. The mathematic principle of Kantian ethics is known as the Principle of Universalisability, basically when making a moral decision you must imagine the outcome if everyone in the world did the same thing. One of Kants examples was lying what would happen if everybody lied? Well, the world would become a very corrupt place and it would be impossible to distinguish right from wrong, therefore it is wrong to lie. If we apply this principle to abortion it is logically impossible, that is to say if everyone had an abortion there would be nobody left to get pregnant and have an abortion and the human race would ultimately die out, furthermore it isnt actually ossible for every human in the world to have an abortion as men and infertile women are unable to become pregnant in the first place. So according to the Principle of Universalisability, abortion is intrinsically wrong. Kants second principle states that as humans we must treat others as ends not means, in other words we should not use people for our own benefit, instead we should use actions in order to benefit other people. For example, a pimp uses prostitutes in order to gain wealth, to Kant this behaviour is intrinsically wrong as it is involves using others for personal gain. This principle verifies that Kant would be against abortion as people would be using the foetus so as to reduce their own suffering. The third of Kants principles is known as The Kingdom of Ends. He makes it clear that you should act as though everyone is following the moral law, that is to say, you should not change your moral behaviour because other people do. His Justification is that things will fall apart if you take this attitude. A final important point to consider when studying Kant is that he does not believe emotions, feelings or circumstances should affect the decisions you ake, this is due to his belief that there is a rational order undergirding the world. Disobeying a moral law is equivalent to disobeying a physical law: you cant, no matter how you feel about gravity it still acts, and in Kants view, moral law is no different. Kants theory is worthy for consideration as it is Just, it has a positive view of human life and as humans we intuitively agree with much of what he says. On the other hand however, his theories are perhaps too rigid and unemotional, and it is possible for moral laws to contradict each other, for example one moral law is that ou cannot lie, and another states that you cannot hurt people, but sometimes the truth hurts. Unlike Buddhism and Kant, Utilitarianism is a relativist theory and states that nothing is intrinsically right or wrong. Basically, it is a consequentialist theory which Judges the consequences of our actions rather than the actions themselves, meaning that unlike the others it does not say that abortion is always morally wrong. Utiliatrianism considers each individual circumstance separately, coming to reasonable conclusions which suit the particular circumstance. In this respect it can e very useful, for example in cases of incest and rape where the mother feels she could not bear to go through with the pregnancy, utilitarianism would Justify an abortion on the grounds that the mothers wellbeing is of utmost importance. This theory would sympathise with the mother, believing that preventing the emotional trauma from which she would suffer is more important than the rapist/family members child, as it is not an actual human being yet and so cannot feel happy, which is the basis of utilitarianism. Unlike Kant, utilitarianism takes into account the houghts and feelings of people involved, to produce the outcome that will bring the greatest happiness. For this reason, it does not forbid abortion as in some cases the abortion is likely to have a better outcome than the birth of the child. For example, when a couple discovers their child is to be born disabled, many choose to have it aborted for the benefit of both themselves and the baby. If the baby was to be born, it would likely struggle through life and would not have the quality of life that many people believe a child deserves, also it is often the case that the parents cannot fford to give the child the help and support it needs, as this requires a full time commitment. Utilitarianism would Justify the abortion of the child in situations such as these as it is likely that the child would suffer, which is, needless to say, unfair. A popular utilitarian principle is Jeremy Benthams Principle of Pleasure he argues that all human actions and decisions are governed by the desire to gain pleasure and escape pain. Abortion is perhaps difficult to apply to this principle, as on one hand it may bring the mother pleasure to have the abortion, but in many cases the pain of he child overrides this, suggesting that an abortion would be wrong. Therefore, as with all of utilitarianism, it is largely down to human Judgement, meaning it is subjective and so could easily be seen by many as wrong. In this respect, Buddhism is arguably a better theory when it comes to abortion as there is no uncertainty. There are two main branches of utilitarianism act and rule. When contemplating abortion, most would argue that Rule Utilitarianism is a more useful guide as, unlike Act, it does not base the verdict on every single individual case, instead it forms a set f rules which aim to please the greatest number of people. For example the rules for abortion would be something along the lines that abortion is wrong except in cases of rape, incest, disability etc. he final form of utilitarianism is known as Preference Utilitarianism, aptly named it is based upon the preference of those involved. In terms of abortion especially, this is a very weak way to consider it, as often people do not know what they would prefer and even when they do, they may wish to have the abortion out of ease or a similar reason, which would be unfair on the baby and enerally frowned upon. A notorious example of this type of utilitarianism is Peter Singers example that a mature chimpanzee has greater self-consciousness than a newborn infant and therefore has a more legitimate right to life; this statement would of course be used in favour of abortion, a very controversial view. The most useful ethical theory concerning abortion is in my opinion, Buddhism. The Buddhists approach to the issue is the most complex and reasoned, although it believes that abortion is intrinsically wrong and forbids it in all cases which is an issue for many eople, it is the most valid argument. Their belief in the Tathagatha-Garba means that to them there is no situation in which abortion would be Justifiable, as no matter the circumstance, the Tathagatha-Garba is always being destroyed which is an evil act. Kants theory is not as compelling as that of the Buddhists as despite it being along similar lines, his Priniciple of Universalisability seems much more trivial than the idea of the Tathagatha-Garba, as it is unrealistic and though it is a relatively strong argument, to me the Buddhist approach is much more persuasive as it deals ith a very real possibility. To me, Utilitarianism on the whole is a very fickle theory, but particularly when applied to abortion it does not give strong enough Justifications for such a crucial issue. Abortion is a matter of life and death and the subjective conclusions that are drawn by utilitarianism are not substantiated enough to provide a reason to make a decision either way, as conclusions could easily be made either in favour of or against the abortion. For this reason I dont consider it to be a valid theory to apply to such challenging moral issues as abortion.

My Life Experience †Personal Essay

My Life Experience – Personal Essay Free Online Research Papers My Life Experience Personal Essay Experience is that kind of stuff which every human be gain since be born. There are two kind of experience which is bad and good. Therefore, about experience everyone can talk and talk and never finish talking. In the other hand almost everyday of everyone life is experience. In my whole life I have gained and still make new experiences. I learnt how important is to listen other people and how to make a difficult decisions. Also I learnt to start new life once again. When my dad past away I was very close to my grandfather, in fact he took a place after him. When my mom went to Canada I was living with him and with my brother. He took part in the war and he used to try telling me about his experience, but I did not listen to him. In this case I was only 13 year old and for me that stuff was boring. In fact my friends were more important than to listen to him. I did not take to myself that will come a day that he wills not anymore walking on this earth. However, when he past away I realized my big mistake when I did not listen to him. In other words, his death taught me that listen other people is very important, even when this person is telling stuff that are boring. Definitely, if I only listen it would be great beneficial for me. That year when my grandfather died my mom did surprise for me telling me that I am coming to her for vacation to Canada. I was so happy, because I knew that I will see her after one year that she left me and my brother. On the whole summer I was spending time with her. In this vacation I got my first job in my life. I was babysitting a child. In addition I could make money to buy something for myself and I was not asking my mom for money. Obviously, summer comes to the end and I had to back to Poland, my mom was thinking to stay me here in Canada. But she gave me permission to make decision by myself if I want to stay in Canada or back to Poland and then she will back after one year to Poland. That was so hard to do it, because I had to choose between my mom and my brother who was in Poland. I decided to back there. Moreover at the airport when I was after the passport examination and I saw my mom from far away I started to regret my decision. Afterward, while I was sitting in the p lane I felt that my heart is broken but I was thinking that my brother is in Poland and waiting for me. That was my hard decision but now I know that was right decision because after few months my brother past away. So making decisions is not that easy especially if someone have to decide between people that are very important for this person. Some people in the world would have a chance to start their life once again. I had that chance when my brother past away. At that time when I buried my brother I buried with him myself. In few months later I left Poland to move to the Canada and live with her and started new life with her. Although, when I immigrate to Canada I left there all my friends, my home as well family. Even though I had my mom by my side I was missing my friend and my family. As a result, I tried to make a new friend and started to live again and forgot about my brother as well about my friends and family from Poland. That taught me that God had better away for me to live and give me a chance to moved to Canada. All of that are days of my life that were experience for me. During my life until today I learnt much stuff that maybe some people never had. My life experiences were seriously. Some of them though me how to life and forgot about something and some of them though me that not pay attention to listen someone else when is talking. The experience in life makes people more carefully or giving a knowledge about stuff that they didn’t hear before. Research Papers on My Life Experience - Personal EssayBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm XPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceHip-Hop is ArtAppeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2Quebec and CanadaCapital PunishmentThe Spring and AutumnLifes What Ifs

Your Ideal Reader

Your Ideal Reader Your Ideal Reader Your Ideal Reader By Ali Hale If you’re reading Daily Writing Tips, you’re probably a writer of some description. And being a writer means, in the vast majority of cases, that you have – or at least want to have – readers. So, have you thought about your Ideal Reader? What is an Ideal Reader? Your ideal reader is a construct designed to represent your audience. If you’re writing a blog about frugality and budgeting, your ideal reader might be a single mom in her thirties. Alternatively, your ideal reader could be a high school graduate heading off to college. For a short story writer, an ideal reader might be a woman working in a shop, flicking through short stories in her breaks or during quiet times of the day. Alternatively, a short story writer might envisage a very different ideal reader – perhaps an elderly male professor poring over the story in a hushed library, extracting every nuance. Why do I want an Ideal Reader? You might wonder what the point of creating an â€Å"ideal reader† is. Perhaps you think your audience is too diverse, and that there’s no way you could come up with one imaginary character to represent them. But having an ideal reader is well worth the effort, in terms of boosting your writing productivity: â€Å"Consider how much more quickly words flow when you’re writing an email to a friend versus creating a formal business presentation. When you have a specific recipient in mind, you have a much easier time communicating your ideas.† from Why Create An Ideal Reader? Do you ever find yourself struggling to get started an article, blog post, story or poem? Do you worry that the topic will bore your readers, or that your literary allusions will go over their heads? Having an ideal reader in mind makes it much easier to pitch your writing at the right level. Even if you don’t have an audience yet, you’ll still want to think about your ideal reader. When I was planning my new blog, Alpha Student, I put a good bit of thought into my ideal reader: a keen, intelligent, slightly shy, university student who isn’t really into the wilder aspects of student life. This really helped when focusing the blog and deciding on the tone of the articles (I’ve not written about drunken nights or peppered my advice with swear words, for instance!) Who is My Ideal Reader? If you’re writing for a specific publication, you’re in luck. Many magazines publish profiles for prospective advertisers, detailing the demographics of the magazine’s readership. Here in the UK, I find the IPC Media website very helpful for finding these details. For example, for Horse magazine, I’m told that the â€Å"target readers† are horse enthusiast women aged 20-40 from the ABC1 (middle/upper class) categories. This would be a good starting point for creating an ideal reader. â€Å"At a minimum I keep in mind the age and gender of the reader. For example, I sometimes do news articles for a small, local weekly newspaper. Since I live in the neighborhood, I know that we’re an incredibly diverse area, but that the readership of the paper tends to be older women. So that’s who I write for, keeping in mind the others, and occasionally working in some ethnic bits.† from Write for Your Ideal Reader If you’re writing fiction for a particular magazine, look at the advertisements, the editorial, and the letters from readers. This can give you a lot of clues about the gender, age, interests and social class of the ideal reader for that market. Even copywriters and marketers can create an ideal reader – often called an â€Å"ideal customer†. I took Sonia Simone’s excellent Content Class by email (it’s free), and her first lesson is â€Å"Write for One Customer†. She says: If your ideal customer is a little formal, write to her like youd send an email to your Great Aunt Susie. If hes casual, write like youd write to an old college buddy. (Its probably smart to keep it rated-G, though.) Over to You If you have a blog, novel, short story collection, article or any other writing project underway, stop and ask yourself – who am I writing for? Who’s my ideal reader? You can get as detailed about this as you like: try to make it a fun exercise. Give your ideal reader a name, a personality, interests, worries, a birthday. Then, every time you write, write for that one person. Why not tell us about your ideal reader in the comments? Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Writing Basics category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:12 Types of LanguageEmail EtiquetteWords Often Misspelled Because of Double Letters

Food additives used in the meat industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Food additives used in the meat industry - Essay Example n food, clothing, and other facets of living, then there grew the effort not just to ban those harmful ingredients, but also to scrutinize any manmade products that altered the natural composition of things, especially food products. This has lead to the food industry, and especially the meat industry, which is already coming under fire from vegetarians and naturalists, to consider alternatives to food additives whenever possible. It is not, however, always possible to eliminate entirely food additives, because, first, they are necessary, and, secondly, they are not necessarily harmful to human consumption. Still, the controversy goes on. Food additives, including those added to meat products, and are used for the purpose of preserving the food or meat product in order that it might retain its flavor while being transported to destinations, which are often long distances from the point of production (Goldstein Chandler, Myrna and Goldstein, Mark A., M.D., 2002, 1). In the United States, since 1958, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must approve all food additives (Goldstein and Goldstein, 2). There is a list of five reasons that the Center for Food and Safety and Applied Nutrition lists as justifying the of meat additives (Goldstein and Goldstein, 2). 1. â€Å"To maintain product consistency. Emulsifiers give products a consistent texture and prevent them from separating. Stabilizers and thickeners give smooth uniform texture. Anti-caking agents help substances such as salt to flow freely. 2. To improve or maintain nutritional value. Vitamins and minerals are added to many common foods, such as milk, flour, cereal and margarine to make up for those likely to be lacking in a person’s diet or lost in processing. Such fortification and enrichment has helped reduce malnutrition among the U.S. population. All products containing added nutrients must be appropriately labeled. 3. To maintain palatability and wholesomeness. Preservatives retard product

PC Discussion Questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

PC Discussion Questions - Assignment Example Violence has been key in fueling death and its consequences. However, most films edit the clips to remove ‘real life’ violence.  Despite the fascination of the public about death there are graphic consequences because of regulatory policies of communication entities that seek to protect the rights of the viewer. The movies abide by a rating system that warns prospective audience members of the content. The death content is both expressed in the reality and fiction. For example, in news coverage there are limited images displayed and often records the consequences and aftermath of the event. Critics hold that in both fictional and reality content media exaggeration exists. It is evident that audiences especially young generations have a fascination about death and dying. Fiction does not really help the audience to understand the ‘dynamics ‘of death as people fail to register the right emotions or concern towards loss of life. Such audiences perceive real death situations as common due to the influence of fiction content. In conclusion, death and dying are complex topics that undergo thorough screening before airing to factor in the audience interests, community standards and policies regulating a certain region. Palliative care is medical care provided by physicians, nurses and social workers; this kind of health care focuses on alleviating the suffering of patients. It is specialized care for people with serious illnesses such as cancer, chronic illness, kidney failure, and cardiac disease. It improves quality of life for the patient and can be seen in various categories which are; 2. Communication and coordination: Good communication is required to ensure that requirements of the patient are fully met. It also offers emotional support as it addresses the social, psychological emotional and spiritual needs a patient may have. Good and bad practices have been observed when it comes to palliative care. Communication is

Examining The IS System Of KFC

Examining The IS System Of KFC Purpose of the report: The Management of KFC Parramatta has requested an investigation regarding the use of their Information System in relation to their business decision making for competitive advantage and to make recommendations for changes and/or improvements as required. KFC Parramatta is one of the branches of a huge franchise that is famous worldwide. Being a fast food restaurant it faces competition from many other similar restaurants for instance Hungry Jacks, McDonalds, Dominos and every single restaurant be it small or big. Therefore their information system plays a big role in their decision making process and their competitive advantage over their rivals. Knowing how to make improvements in their business using information systems is a major advantage and it is what a the profitability of a business relies on (J.A Senn 1996). Many retail businesses lack an information system making it quite difficult for them to make critical decisions therefore their competitors have a complete advantage over them and in most cases the retail business loses many customers due to the lack of correct information. According to Tutor2u (2010) competitive advantage is an advantage over competitors gained by offering consumers greater value, either by means of low er prices or by providing greater benefits and service that justifies higher prices. Information systems help achieve this because they help the business know what is required and when it is required (Barney 1995) and by using this the business can make decisions such as how many staff to employ during a specific day for instance on Christmas; how much stock is required; what product to stock most; the average business profit during a certain period and its trend i.e. whether the business is going at a profit or lost and such information. The decision making process usually relies on the higher level management not the manager of the branch itself, however without information from the smaller branches it is almost impossible for the top level management to make a decision and thats why a good information system has to exist. Methodology: Taking the above information in mind a research was conducted on KFC Parramatta. A weekly interview was organised with one of the managers, Vinod Patel, mostly on Fridays and Saturdays just outside the restaurant. The information collected was carefully analysed and organised and some of it is presented in this report in the form of graphs and diagrams. Research site: KFC Parramatta is a local restaurant located at Westfield Shopping centre in Parramatta, New South Wales. Being a fast food restaurant, all they sale is food products such as chicken burgers, chicken nuggets, fries and other related products. It is very close to other food courts in the same area and faces a lot of competition from nearby fast food restaurants hance the need for a good IS system. Findings: From the interviews it was found that KFC Parramatta has an information system in place. The information system was used almost in all instances of the business. The following are the key areas where their information system is used: Recording sales data (the product sold, time it was sold , cost of the product, number of products sold and amount sold) Calculating the daily pay for staff members depending on their number of hours. Analysing the performances of the shift supervisor and other staff members ( this is done automatically in the computer where it calculates the total sales and divides it by the number of hours giving a sales per hour figure) Generating the daily, weekly and monthly reports on the performance of the business. It was found that the decisions are made in three levels and as follows: Operational level (store managers): they make the decision on how many staff to employ, assigning jobs to employees, responsible for the daily management of the business and they handle customer complaints. Middle level of management (area managers): they overlook the running of the stores and ensure that nothing is going wrong. Top level of management (executive managers): they are the ones that decide what product to remove from the market, what product to add to the market (as an example the manager illustrated the grilled chicken), at what price to sell it and where to locate new restaurants. Analysis of findings: The sales are done on cash or credit card basis but everything is automated. The cash process is simple and less time consuming as a staff member can easily take cash and give back the required change. The credit card sale basis is a little more time consuming but almost similar to the cash system. Additionally the staff member has to wait till the transaction is approved since the credit card has to be checked to see whether the customer has money in it or not. The order data (the product sold, time it was sold, cost of the product, number of products sold and amount sold) all goes into the server once it is approved and it is stored there. The staff members collecting the data from customers can only input data and once an order is placed modifications to the order can only be done by the authorisation from managers. This acts as a security measure and prevents the staff member from editing any data after it is approved. Another security measure was the existence of a safe to keep all the cash and every staff member is supposed to keep the cash in the safe once it reaches a certain amount. Additionally being located in a shopping mall there are security cameras and even security guards around and this helps keep surveillance around the restaurant. The data stored on the web server can only be accessed by managers of that store (operational level management), the executor management and the administrative level management since they are only ones that have a password needed to log in to access the data. Since the data is all being stored directly on the web server there is a rare chance of the data being inaccurate if any. Figure 1: An example of a monthly sales report of KFC Parramatta From the report it can be seen that KFC Parramatta makes more sales on Thursdays. One of the main reasons for this is because of the long hours they are open. This graph is just one of the few generated by their information system. Without the information system, it would be so hard to analyse data and make a sales graph and therefore it is important that an information system exists. Figure 2: An example of the business operation and decision making process Data is automatically recorded on to the main server Graphs Reports are analysed used to make decisionsuntitledj0196400 sales Data is automatically converted into: Daily, weekly and monthly Reports Stock reports Main problems with the system: Although the information system at KFC Parramatta is designed perfectly, there are minor flaws that could prove critical if not addressed. 1) One of them is the manual ordering of stock. Stock at KFC Parramatta is ordered twice a week on Tuesday and Saturday and this is done manually. The store manager counts the stock manually and orders as required. This leads to time consumption as the store manager has to manually count each and every box. Additionally, during the research it was also found out that during one of the busy days they had run out of stock for fries and chicken because the manager had forgotten to count the stock the day before and failed to place an order. This lead to delays with customer orders since they had to wait get stock from another store nearby. How did this affect the business? Many customers left angrily as they could not withstand the waiting delays. A few of the patient ones waited for an hour before they could get what they ordered. Loss of customers meant loss of profits and even a one hour delay in such a big restaurant causes a major crisis and leads to loss of profits. Located next t o many other similar restaurants, some of the customers even bought from nearby restaurants as they could not withstand delays. This meant the other restaurants gained a slight competitive advantage over them during that period. 2) Another key area is the preparation of the daily roster. The daily roster is prepared manually by the store managers. They do this by calling a team member and confirming their shifts for the next day. The problems associated with this? Firstly, every team member has to be called and this means an added expense. Moreover the roster is not available online and as one incident happened two team members may report for a single shift. Recommendations Figure 3: Example of automatic stock ordering systemKFC Parramatta should get there ordering system automated. They should monitor their stock using barcode scanners, how much goes in and how much goes out. When the stock goes below a certain level the system automatically orders stock. This would help them in getting their stock in time and before the need for it, keeping them on the safer side. According to me below is an example of what I would preferably implement something as follows: Estimated required stock (8 boxes) Current stock (8 boxes) System orders more stock (3 boxes) Stock goes below estimated required level (5 boxes) Additionally they should have a system where the rosters are prepared online and this way team members can see what day their shifts are on, plan their timetable from a convenient location, notify everyone of last minute changes and this way they can prevent many problems. This keeps the other team members aware of their duties and who they work with. Finally they should establish a customer relationship management system (CRM). CRM, or Customer Relationship Management, is a company-wide business strategy designed to reduce costs and increase profitability by solidifying customer satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy (Reynolds, 2010) .In case a delay happens their customers are loyal to them. This can be established by bringing in a point system for instance buying at KFC Parramatta earns you some points and after you have collected enough points you get to select a meal of your choice and use your points to buy it. Conclusion In conclusion, KFC Parramatta has the potential of being the best restaurant in their area if they slightly modify their current information system. Adapting to some new changes in the information system, an automated ordering process and customer relationship management systems they can gain an absolute competitive advantage over their rivals. Using the information system wisely has lead to it being one of the supreme commanders and with a little more changes they can make decisions more quickly and accurately, and this can lead them to having more customers than other local restaurants. The automated ordering system will ensure they get the goods on time and with customers being loyal to them they can maximise their current profits. (2110 words)

Bmw Case

What was BMW’s motivation behind the idea of producing the films? BMW’s motivation behind the idea of producing the films was one to simply communicate, and focus on â€Å"what makes a BMW a BMW†. In fact, there was no product launch to advertise and BMW was able to use this time to shift its strategy from ‘push’ to ‘pull’. The goal of this advertisement was to â€Å"produce the most exciting, fun thing people had ever seen come out of their computer†. In terms of numbers, this campaign was used to maintain growth and sales, which had been growing excessively since 1992: from 60 000 units sold to 180 000 units (exhibit 1). In terms of target, BMW wanted to attract younger generations while still keeping its current target audience. This would enable the brand to increase the already high brand loyalty (44. 7%, Exhibit 8a), by getting customers from a younger age, and therefore following them throughout their lives. In terms of image, the goals of this campaign were to strengthen the company’s brand image in luxury segment, and differentiate it from other competitors. Who was the target market for the BMW Films campaign? With its campaign, BMW was hoping to reach customers between the ages of 25 to 44 who were new to the luxury car market, without affecting their current customer base, being 46 year old male, married with no children with a median income of about $150 000. This target audience was therefore well educated, two thirds were very active males engaged in sports and other activities. BMW wanted to target people who wanted a perfect product, stylish and which offered great driving experience. Last but not least, the target was highly attracted to technology, as the â€Å"Internet was used by 85% of customers before buying a BMW†; the films on the Internet therefore targeted perfectly these people. How successful has the campaign been? Why or why not? There are two ways of defining a successful campaign: the effectiveness and efficiency. In terms of effectiveness, it is important to compare the results according to the initial goals. Overall, the campaign was really successful: BMW sales increase by 12. 5% compared to 2000. Concerning viewers, films were viewed 11 million times in the first four months, and were seen by 1 981 049 people in total. The short films were recommended by 94% of the people who registered on the website, showing how incredible and successful the buzz was. Last but not least, two million people registered on the site after viewing the films and 60% signed up to receive newsletters and other information. In terms of numbers, this campaign was therefore obviously very effective: it was a tremendous buzz and gave the brand a â€Å"cooler† and younger image. Concerning target audience, in comparison with the overall goals, BMW was very successful here again. In fact, the median age of the people who registered on the website was 31, exactly in the target market goal. Moreover, the higher segments of viewers were in the range of 25 to 34 years old (35%) and between 35 to 44 years old (22%). These segments include both young people targeted by BMW and its current target market. 63% of viewers were educated and 68% of profile visitors owned non luxury makes, and were therefore new to the luxury segment. Here we can clearly see that all target objectives were reached by BMW. In terms of strategic goals, the company was also successful: it perfectly produced â€Å"the most exciting, fun thing people had ever seen†, and focused their message on what makes a BMW a BMW. Here is what a viewer said: â€Å"BMW lets the directors do whatever they want and they’re not constantly shoving the BMW logo in your face or anything†. Here again, BMW reached its entire strategic goal. Overall, the campaign was extremely effective in terms of achieving goals and communication to customers. Although effective, it is important to calculate the efficiency of this campaign. In order to do so, it is necessary to calculate the Cost per Thousand (CPM), and compare it to an ad airing during the super bowl. The calculations are detailed in Appendix 1. I have focused my analysis on the movies which aired on the internet, their costs of production and number of viewers, to compare it to the super bowl commercials. Overall, even without considering the costs of publicity (trailers on TV, print advertising) which reached $14 million, the CPM is way higher than for super bowl commercials ($ 7571 against $ 31. 25 respectively). Therefore, the efficiency of the BMW film series was low, as costs were way higher compared to the audience reached. In conclusion, this BMW campaign was very effective but not efficient. BMW should now focus on an â€Å"encore†. I believe that the company should create a DVD to give to dealerships in order to reach potential customers and already existing customers who didn’t view the movies. In addition to that, BMW should produce three to four new films with Clive Owen. This would enable BMW to answer the demands and desires of their customers, without disappointing them. When using A Brand New World, I believe that BMW was really able to create brand strength and not only brand awareness. This campaign really enabled the company to create an emotional attachment with both its customers and potential customers. Appendices Appendix 1: Cost per Thousands comparison |BMW FILMS ON WEBSITE |AD DURING SUPERBOWL | |Cost of production/ ad |$ 15 000 000 |$ 2 500 000 | |Circulation |1 981 049 |80 000 000 | |Cost Per Thousand (CPM) |$ 7571 |$ 31. 25 | Appendix 2: Target effectiveness, Example of non BMW owners reached [pic]